It's not the being honest part... it's the part where the people who pirate it get a better value than the people who pay. In other words, even if the game were free, the DRM is such a penalty that it would still keep people from using it.
Remember, kids, you're paying for that privilege.
Or in my case, not, because I don't buy (or pirate) games with DRM.
I agree with the poster above: you couldn't pay me to use MSN search. I totally love the idea that people are gaming the system to win free swag from Microsoft.
I've been using Microsoft products since DOS 1. I developed Windows software for 15+ years. I think Vista is a disaster and the blue-screens on the computer with an OEM installation of Vista have nothing to do with the user.
Maybe it works fine for some people. It did not for me. And furthermore, even when it did, it had literally nothing to offer that was superior for my wants or needs to XP, but it took a huge performance hit anyway.
By the way I use Linux on all my machines now, and have been working as a Linux developer for the last 3 years.
First off, billg doesn't even work for Microsoft any more. He retired, but since the current guy in charge has all the charisma of a epileptic seizure they couldn't use him. Then the follow the lead of those brain dead TV execs who cancel everything before it even gets a chance to do anything.
I've said it before. Microsoft should just give up. They literally can't do anything well any more.
People who know Microsoft well are lost to Microsoft. They have to create mindshare among people who don't understand Microsoft well enough to realize they are doing nothing but bringing the whole industry down like a dead, beached whale would do for the popularly of the seashore.
The browser is open-source and the source has already been made available. No shenanigans will be possible because people will know.
I've tried Chrome and while it won't make me switch from Firefox, the initial release is really fast and smooth, minus a couple minor hiccups in UI, etc. Meanwhile, that 800-pund zombie gorilla IE is still lumbering around moaning for "Brains!". Anything that can help put that monstrosity out of its (and our) misery is welcome, including competition for good browsers like Firefox and Opera.
Re: Re: Are all Mac users as arrogant as this guy?
I tried Silverlight on XP running Firefox and all I could ever get it to do is ask to be installed, even after it supposedly was.
Sorry, Microsoft, you lose again. And now that I'm running Linux on all my machines, I know there will never be any point in installing your latest attempt to lock everyone in to your monopoly.
You definitely need to move beyond "popular music" which is worse than it's ever been. There's plenty of good music out there, but you have to look for it. Don't expect the radio or iTunes to help you. If you are really interested, pick the genre you are interested in and spend a little time with Google. I'm buying more music now than at any time in the past 25 years, and a quite lot of it is new, but I haven't regularly listened to music on the radio in more than 15 years and haven't been to a music store more than a handful of times in the last 5 (especially since Tower Records went out of business).
For starters, you might be interested in mindawn.com, which lets you demo anything they carry in its entirety. I have also discovered tons of cool stuff on emusic.com. I also find mailing lists for groups I like to be excellent sources for info on music I haven't heard of, but would like. (No connections, just a happy and frequent customer to both sites)
This is truly a Golden Age of music, but you have to do a little more work, but the payoffs are more than worth it... and the mainstream media is doing everything it can to keep you trapped in its own little world of recycled, prefab garbage... in fact, it's a lot like Microsoft in that regard. They don't want you to know what the alternatives are because once you realize what's out there, you'll never go back.
There was definitely API-level support for toolbars, including the means to allow developers to make functionality that allows users to customize those bars. So now there are patents on using something for what it was designed for?
As opposed to Obama whose never done anything, has no ideas that weren't flogged to death 40 years ago, and nothing to say but how he is who we want him to be... riiiight.
I'm no McCain fan, but compared to him, Obama is a know-nothing, done-nothing cypher.
It is not theft if you are not depriving the owner of something. How can I steal something from you if afterwords you still have it.
I don't "steal" music either. I buy it. A lot of it.
However, this conversation has much more to do with the philosophical and intellectual bankruptcy of our government creating laws it cannot (and often does not want to) enforce, and their utter willingness, even enthusiasm to subvert the intention of the Constitution to the whims of anyone with deep enough pockets.
The problem is passing laws that cannot be enforced.
This is the most harmful thing a society can do and the Federal government does it constantly. It ensures lawlessness and garners nothing but contempt for authority, a contempt that is wholly earned.
The entire model of Intellectual Property is based on a foundation of completely artificial scarcity. It is a false model that does not match reality. People rail when the rules conflict with reality, regardless of the moral or economic implications... it's only common sense.
Slashdot is free to support whatever business model it wants. That's called Free Speech. Congress on the other hand makes laws. They generally do a really awful job of it, and are beholden to monied interests and their own careers. The welfare of the country is at best a minor consideration, and then only in terms of appearances. Any positive consequences of anything they do are wholly through dumb luck.
Current business models are not working. The laws as written are wholly inconsistent with the the original (and clear) intent of the Constitution (copyright law in particular has been completely perverted).
Reality has already decided and the business model that assumes a 19th-century mode of distribution is completely obsolete, and allows corporations to be artificial monopolies and to act in arbirarily and capricious ways while avoiding true competition.
Businesses bought Congress support for their obsolete business model, and we consumers continue to suffer from it every day. The politicians need to actually do their jobs and stop being such blatant whores.
The real problem is that Rule of Law has been eroded to near meaninglessness because so many laws are completely unenforceable, and that is the real reality that is being ignored here. The only real options are a 1984-style police state or something completely new, and the invertebrates in Congress want to continue pretending this isn't so.
You seem to have it backwards. If you uses my work, why would you have a copyright claim against me (and need to waive it)? It seems to me I'm the one with the claim.
It sounds to me that he's making commercial use of other people's work, he _is_ charging for it, but wants to deny the same for people using his works. He seems to want it both ways.
You must be thinking of some fairy-tale country founded in the dark ages of the 18th century. This is America, of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations.
On the post: EA Sued Repeatedly Over DRM
Re: I'm a [insert your choice of words here].
Remember, kids, you're paying for that privilege.
Or in my case, not, because I don't buy (or pirate) games with DRM.
On the post: Want To Know Just How Bad Security Is For E-Voting Machines?
Re: Re: Tech hacks of Voting Machines
I think my irony-meter just broke.
On the post: The Traditional Banner Ad Business May Be In Even More Trouble Than You Think
Re: Re: Re: I agree with Ryan
If they are smart, they'll continue using banner ads as long as they provide revenue. That's kind of the point, don't you think?
On the post: Disney Used Anonymous Online Quotes In Ads
Re: Fair Use
On the post: Apparently The Financial Crisis Is The Fault Of Flickering Computer Screens
Re: Re: It's everyone's fault
On the post: Microsoft Expands Program To Bribe Users Into Using Its Search
My sole experience with MSN search...
IMO, Microsoft has passed beyond the point where they cannot compete to the point where they cannot even doing anything well.
Here's the story of my experience with MSN search and IE 7.
http://conceptjunkie.blogspot.com/2008/04/microsoft-needs-to-die.html
I agree with the poster above: you couldn't pay me to use MSN search. I totally love the idea that people are gaming the system to win free swag from Microsoft.
On the post: Microsoft Gives In To Online Critics: Fires Seinfeld
Re:
I've been using Microsoft products since DOS 1. I developed Windows software for 15+ years. I think Vista is a disaster and the blue-screens on the computer with an OEM installation of Vista have nothing to do with the user.
Maybe it works fine for some people. It did not for me. And furthermore, even when it did, it had literally nothing to offer that was superior for my wants or needs to XP, but it took a huge performance hit anyway.
By the way I use Linux on all my machines now, and have been working as a Linux developer for the last 3 years.
On the post: Microsoft Gives In To Online Critics: Fires Seinfeld
Microsoft can't do anything right...
I've said it before. Microsoft should just give up. They literally can't do anything well any more.
On the post: So Much Hate For Microsoft's Seinfeld/Gates Buddy Ad
Re: Re: I absolutley Got It
On the post: Google's Browser Is A Warning Shot At Windows, Not At Internet Explorer
Re: Firefox and Questions
I've tried Chrome and while it won't make me switch from Firefox, the initial release is really fast and smooth, minus a couple minor hiccups in UI, etc. Meanwhile, that 800-pund zombie gorilla IE is still lumbering around moaning for "Brains!". Anything that can help put that monstrosity out of its (and our) misery is welcome, including competition for good browsers like Firefox and Opera.
On the post: NBC's Crippled Online Olympics Coverage Attracts Small Audience
Re: Re: Are all Mac users as arrogant as this guy?
Sorry, Microsoft, you lose again. And now that I'm running Linux on all my machines, I know there will never be any point in installing your latest attempt to lock everyone in to your monopoly.
On the post: You Don't Beat Pirates By Doing Something More Annoying
Re:
For starters, you might be interested in mindawn.com, which lets you demo anything they carry in its entirety. I have also discovered tons of cool stuff on emusic.com. I also find mailing lists for groups I like to be excellent sources for info on music I haven't heard of, but would like. (No connections, just a happy and frequent customer to both sites)
This is truly a Golden Age of music, but you have to do a little more work, but the payoffs are more than worth it... and the mainstream media is doing everything it can to keep you trapped in its own little world of recycled, prefab garbage... in fact, it's a lot like Microsoft in that regard. They don't want you to know what the alternatives are because once you realize what's out there, you'll never go back.
On the post: NBC's Crippled Online Olympics Coverage Attracts Small Audience
Re: Are all Mac users as arrogant as this guy?
I tried iTunes when I had a MacBook Pro at work and was amazed at how awful it was. I would never install it on a PC either.
On the post: Microsoft Sued Over User Editable Toolbar Patent
Re:
On the post: Jackson Browne Sues McCain For Using His Song In An Ad Without Permission
Re: McCain "Running On Empty"
I'm no McCain fan, but compared to him, Obama is a know-nothing, done-nothing cypher.
On the post: Do We Really Want Congress Choosing Which Business Models Are Best?
Re: It amazes me...
I don't "steal" music either. I buy it. A lot of it.
However, this conversation has much more to do with the philosophical and intellectual bankruptcy of our government creating laws it cannot (and often does not want to) enforce, and their utter willingness, even enthusiasm to subvert the intention of the Constitution to the whims of anyone with deep enough pockets.
On the post: Do We Really Want Congress Choosing Which Business Models Are Best?
Re:
This is the most harmful thing a society can do and the Federal government does it constantly. It ensures lawlessness and garners nothing but contempt for authority, a contempt that is wholly earned.
The entire model of Intellectual Property is based on a foundation of completely artificial scarcity. It is a false model that does not match reality. People rail when the rules conflict with reality, regardless of the moral or economic implications... it's only common sense.
Slashdot is free to support whatever business model it wants. That's called Free Speech. Congress on the other hand makes laws. They generally do a really awful job of it, and are beholden to monied interests and their own careers. The welfare of the country is at best a minor consideration, and then only in terms of appearances. Any positive consequences of anything they do are wholly through dumb luck.
Current business models are not working. The laws as written are wholly inconsistent with the the original (and clear) intent of the Constitution (copyright law in particular has been completely perverted).
Reality has already decided and the business model that assumes a 19th-century mode of distribution is completely obsolete, and allows corporations to be artificial monopolies and to act in arbirarily and capricious ways while avoiding true competition.
Businesses bought Congress support for their obsolete business model, and we consumers continue to suffer from it every day. The politicians need to actually do their jobs and stop being such blatant whores.
The real problem is that Rule of Law has been eroded to near meaninglessness because so many laws are completely unenforceable, and that is the real reality that is being ignored here. The only real options are a 1984-style police state or something completely new, and the invertebrates in Congress want to continue pretending this isn't so.
On the post: Why Doesn't Girl Talk Allow Commercial Use?
Re:
It sounds to me that he's making commercial use of other people's work, he _is_ charging for it, but wants to deny the same for people using his works. He seems to want it both ways.
On the post: RNC To Sue CafePress For Helping People Promote Republican Candidates
Re:
On the post: RNC To Sue CafePress For Helping People Promote Republican Candidates
Re: moron alert
Next >>